


the finale goodbye

by ineffablesaltflower



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Goodbye, Greyjoys - Freeform, House Greyjoy, Last Battle, No Incest, Other, Sibling Love, Some softness, Theon leaves for Winterfell, What is Dead May Never Die, Winterfell, iron islands, my heart is dead, only siblings, salt queen, the goodbye we deserved to see on screen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 07:08:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18633274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineffablesaltflower/pseuds/ineffablesaltflower
Summary: Theon made his choice to leave and fight for Winterfell and his sister let him go. This is their final goodbye.spoilers for season 8, episode 1.❝ ᴀɴᴅ ɪғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴ ᴡᴀʟᴋs ᴏᴜᴛ,ᴛʜᴇ sᴋʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀsᴛᴀɴᴅ;ʙᴜᴛ ɴᴏᴡ ɪᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛs,ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ sᴏ sᴏᴏɴ.ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ,ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ. ❞





	the finale goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> heya, I wrote this little thing as a solo for my twitter rp account for Asha, just thought I'm going to share this before the new episode airs tonight and will probably kill us all.  
> Especially my Theon boy.  
> And we never got to actually see the goodbye of them after Theon decided to leave and we deserve more Greyjoy content.
> 
> what is dead may never die - but kill the bastards anyway.
> 
> love always.

_❛ What was it like to lose him?❜ , asked Sorrow._

_There was a long pause before I responded:_

_❛ It was like hearing every goodbye ever said to me — said all at once. ❜_

 

How many times can you lose a brother?

Maybe at some point she should stop wondering, should stop asking herself a question there was no answer to.

They both grew up. He wasn't the little toddler anymore. She couldn't protect him from all the bad in this world.

Asha could see it in Theons eyes. He saved her from Euron and he would follow her wherever she told him to go. And the iron born woman didn't doubt him for a second.

He truly believed in her.

And maybe it was time to believe in him too.

He would never ask her to let him go. Not now. Not after all he had been through.

Theon was still learning, learning to work with his new self and where his place in this world of war was now.

But she could see it in his eyes. The North meant something for him and even if Asha still despised it after all these years and still held a kinda grudge against the Starks, Theon didn't.

They were there when Asha couldn't. He grew up with them and had more childhood memories involving them than the iron islands.

There was no going back from this. And just this once she needed to make a decision for them both.

She needed to support her brother the way he did with her.

Even if it meant losing him to the North once more.

 

_"You want to go fight for the Starks."_

 

No question. No asking if. He wanted to. With every fiber of his body. And maybe this was something he had to do. He was a grown up man. A warrior. He was not weak anymore.

 

_"Go."_

 

In fact, he was one of the strongest people Asha ever knew. Not many would come back from the place Ramsay put him into. Their mother would be proud of her youngest son.

And a part of Asha was probably the proudest sister on the iron islands at this moment.

It didn't matter if he left her behind with Euron on this battle field. The terror in his eyes had spoken for itself back then. He hadn't been ready. Once more he needed to grow and saving her proved to her that he did.

He got himself a few men to follow him willingly into the devils hole and got her out.

The headbutting was her own way to punish him for leaving her behind.

After all they were just that. Siblings. And sometimes siblings had to clear the front the way siblings did. Iron borns weren't an exception.

But it was forgiven and it was over.

They were alive and soon enough they'd set a foot upon the iron islands again.

_Their_  home.

Bringing Theon home had been her goal ever since she was a little girl.

It hadn't changed. And yet – the odds fought against them again.

A war to fight and no time to go home.

 

"Do whatever you think you have to do, Theon.", Asha said as they stood side by side, watching the ship docking onto land.

Her softening eyes glanced over at Theon, nodding lightly.

"You're iron born. Don't forget to show them where you are from."

 

There was a longer pause between them as they stepped down from the ship, a horse already waiting for him and the few men he was taking along.

 

_"Mother always said, the sea has no mercy to give. And neither do we."_

 

They faced each other, taking each others features in as if it was maybe the last time they see each other.

And maybe it was.

 

"And don't you dare to die up there in the North for the Starks. I will bring you back from the dead just so I can kill you myself again for that.", she said quieter and her hand found her brothers shoulder, squeezing it, her other hand finding her chest.

**"What is dead may never die."**

**"What is dead may never die."**

_But kill the bastards anyway._

 

"Now go. Can't give my men an impression that their Captain got weak."

"Would never."

There was that little smirk on Theons face, the one he wore when they met the first time as grown ups.

 

"Don't you have anywhere else to be?", she barked at her men, making sure they would finally stop lurking around.

 

"Ah. Fuck it. C'me here." Then she simply pulled Theon into a last hug.

If this was the last time they saw each other, it might as well be a good parting this time.

Only one last time carding her hand through the ridiculous curls.

"May the drowned god be with you on this."

It wasn't a long hug. They almost immediately parted again. But it was enough for both to mean something to them.

-

Even long after Theon had been swallowed on his horse by the horizon, Asha stood on her ship, watching the fields melting into a setting sun.

The water quietly crashing against creaking wood.

"Captain?", one of her men asked her after a while. "Where to now?"

"Home.", Asha said as she turned around to walk towards the Helm of her new ship, leaving everything behind.

 

**_❛ What is dead may never die - but rises again, harder and stronger. ❜_ **


End file.
